Where did Beats by da Pound get their TR808 sounds from?

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Hi, I'm relatively new to this forum and I've enjoy a lot of the threads hear. It's a pleasure to have a place to come to and chat about making beats and, share ideas and critic one another. I've been making beats for 10 years now and I'm very BIG and PICKY when it comes to TR808 sounds. My bass must be bumpin' and my high hats must be tickin' (TR808 high hats) and that TR808 snare must snap through the mix like a knife through butter.

I have many great TR808 kits on various pieces of equipment that I currently own. However, I've also been trying to figure out what the old No Limit Records (Beats by da Pound) used back in the mid to late 90's as a source for their TR808 sounds.
Does anyone know?

I've been browsing the net and found out a lot of rap producers also used a Roland R-8 drum machine with the 808 ROM expansion card (or R-8 mkII with the 808 sounds built in). I was wondering if this is what Beats by the Pound used for the various No Limit tracks. If not, does anyone know what it was?

The reason I want to track down this source is because those are the best 808 sounds I've ever heard and I've heard a lot of 808 believe me!!! I'm specifically picky about the snare, high hats, and that funky 808 ride cymbal they always used. I've listen to their tracks and actually compared their snares and cymbals side by side to other samples of 808 snares and cymbals using Cool Edit and could not find anything that matched exactly, not even samples of the "real" 808 cymbals. I even played with EQ and other processing with my samples to see if I can recreate the sound but still, no success. I can get close, but close is not close enough. It's got to be exact. I once thought the 808 samples in the Triton and the Alesis QS6.2 matched but they didn't. They're pretty darn close though.

I'd just like to get my hands on those exact sounds, whether it's in a drum machine, sample CDs or whatever. I've also heard a "real" TR808 in person and it's cymbals didn't sound exactly like Beats by da Pound either (but somewhat close). You have to really listen to the details and tonal characteristics to actually tell the difference. That's what I do all of the time.

I listen to a lot of southern rap and I've also heard the same 808 ride cymbal that Beats by the Pound used in a few of Three 6 Mafia's beats. I also heard it in Paul Wall's new album. So there must be some type of drum machine out there that produces that sound. I was somehow lead into believing it was the Roland R-8 but I'm absolutely not sure at all on that one. That's why I want to hopefully find out from someone here first before I go spend money on that machine or anything else. That way I'll know what to get. I really would like to just have those sounds so I can sample them into my MPC and be done with it.

Sorry for the novel but I'm pretty desperate after searching for an answer for 7 years with no luck in 2005. Any help here would be sincerely appreciated.

For me, it's always good to have as many variations of the TR808 as possible when doing my type of music.


Thanks everyone.
 
In the Nov/Dec issue of Scratch, they have an article with KLC, from Beats by the Pound, they have a full-page photo of him sitting on a couch with a genuine 808 at his feet.
 
Thanks Heezzi,


Yeah, I've also forgot to mention I've already downloaded a lot of kits from the net too in including that humongous TR808 sample package that's floating around all over the web. I've compared those samples long ago(which are samples of the "real" 808) to No Limit's 808 and they didn't match either. Thanks again.
 
Sorry for the redundant posts!!!! That was an accident and I haven't figured out how to delete them.


Thank you both guys. That's just the answer I was looking for. A picture of KLC along with the drum machine he's using. Dang!!!! I kinda fingured in the back of my mind that maybe he was actually using the real thing since that's the only thing that came closes to what I've heard on his album. I was planning on saving up for a real 808 anyway and sampling it to my satisfaction. I've got to get one now!!!!! I'm going to start saving up now. I know a lot about the 808 and I also know that how it sounds also depends on it's knob settings as well as how you run it through your mixing board and eq it, proesses it, etc..... If I go ahead and buy a real 808, play around with it, and sample it, I'm pretty sure I can duplicate the sound I'm looking for.

Thanks for your helpful replies.
 
One thing you have to remeber also. that TR808 sample kit is from a real 808 BUT procesing is something that happens in the studios to separate the the quality..

I assume if you use that 808 kit that I linked to and have it proccessed in a professional studio, you will get the results you are looking for.
 
While we're on the subject of 808's where do you think other hip-hop producers get they're 808's from?

Mannie Fresh, Jazze Pha, David Banner-MOS DEF Korg Triton

Whoever does Dem Franchize Boyz, D4L, and Crime Mobbs tracks-Fruity Loops


Scott Storch, Jermaine Dupri- Sounds like Fantom to me


I'm not for SURE if those are correct, they could be tweakin/sounddesigning, but just from playin around on the different gear and noticing all the slight subtleties/differences, that's what I think.
 
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Yeah, that's definitely true. LiL Jon, and David Banner uses the Triton. I actually have a Triton Rack module and I also use those 808s in some my tracks. But keep in mind, they also sound different from the 808s KLC used with No Limit back in the day. I also have a Novation Drumstation along with various Roland drum machines too and those 808s also sound different from the real thing. I believe the only thing I'm really missing is a "real" 808.

A good 808 with midi or even an 808 without midi and a good sampler, such as my MPC would fit in my setup perfectly. I believe if I either straight up sequence with a real 808 (provided it has a midi retrofit) or sample directly from one well, I would capture the characteristics and quality of the sounds properly. With all of my hardware and computer software, I could later process the samples further, but the sounds within the samples MUST be captured perfectly or else the sample is no good.
 
Fresh is the king of the 808.

I use to have a hard time finding the right 808 kicks but now its all about Filtering and Compression and a lil eq'n... can take a ****ty kick a long way.

Have you tried that?along with pitching up and down?
 
Oh yeah. I can do all sorts of things with the kicks. It's just the snare and high hats I'm really picky about.
 
yo, i read an interview with KLC about four years ago, this is actually how i started making beats. i just read this article and ran with it. i shortly after learned about fruity loops when it was in version 3.

Beats by the Pound:
How to Get Started Making Beats
By Ted Laderas (M-Roshi)

I'm not exactly a spring chicken when it comes to making beats. I've been working at it off and on for about four years. I had to get started just like any other person, and I thought I might offer some advice about making beats from ground zero.

A dirt cheap way of getting started is to use a PC. The PC you use doesn't have to be a super speedy computer, with an expensive soundcard, and expensive software. I've done 3 CDs of work on my crappy AMD K6 machine that I got used for cheap, with a Soundblaster Live as a soundcard. And guess what? There are plenty of great software programs on the internet that can be obtained for cheap, or free.

For those who are getting started from scratch, I recommend a free program called Tuareg (www.brambos.com). It's a very simple program that has everything you need to get started. It has drum samples, and even some melodic samples that you can sequence to make beats, basslines, and melodies. I recommend that you read the manual, as it gives you the basics on how the program works.

The way Tuareg works is by mixing sample loops with a simple interface. These loops can be sampled, or you can program them yourself. To program loops, you build up loops by arranging drum samples on a drumgrid. You can adjust how loud or soft each sound is in the grid. In Tuareg, you build a loop by making a new RaGE pattern.

Here are a couple of very basic beats to get you started. Adjust your tempo to the bpms I've listed. I've divided my grid into sixteen ticks, instead of Tuareg's 64 ticks, so make that adjustment. The light boxes mean make the sounds softer in that tick, the dark ones louder.

Hiphop (80-95 bpm)



House (110-138 bpm)



The key is to experiment. Try placing drum sounds on top of each other. Try using different snares or bassdrums and see how they make the drum loop sound. Play with the built in delays, and see what each setting does to your beats. Try making some drum hits louder and some softer - this will make your drum loop sound less robotic and more natural. Also, try layering beats - such as playing one of the built in loops softly under your beat and see what it does.

Once you get your basic loops done, try adding a bassline. The bassline can be really simple - for hiphop grooves, try adding notes where you placed the kick - try C and G for starters, and then experiment with adding other notes.

Once you have made a basic beat and a bassline, you can make a simple song by arranging your loops in Tuareg's pattern sequencer. There is a very useful tool that will make your beats much more interesting, called the Variator. The Variator will rearrange your beats so you can produce variations on your beats. These will help you to program variations on your original beat, which can keep things from being monotonous.

At this point, you are well on your way! I recommend that you get a beginner's book on music theory and learn the basics. You'll be glad you did. Teaching about musical keys and time signatures is sort of beyond my ability to explain in this article, but there are plenty of musical theory books that do it better than I ever could.

Another wonderful resource is the internet. Check out www.dancetech.com for a wealth of great tips and discussion forums on making dance music. There's lots more tutorials on there for beatmakers, and Kilo, the guy who runs the site, is really helpful, as are some of the other regulars. Stay tuned, next time, for more beat making tips.


so he probably had a lot of TR-808 samples
 
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josey whales said:
yo, i read an interview with KLC about four years ago, this is actually how i started making beats. i just read this article and ran with it. i shortly after learned about fruity loops when it was in version 3.

Beats by the Pound:
How to Get Started Making Beats
By Ted Laderas (M-Roshi)

I'm not exactly a spring chicken when it comes to making beats. I've been working at it off and on for about four years. I had to get started just like any other person, and I thought I might offer some advice about making beats from ground zero.

A dirt cheap way of getting started is to use a PC. The PC you use doesn't have to be a super speedy computer, with an expensive soundcard, and expensive software. I've done 3 CDs of work on my crappy AMD K6 machine that I got used for cheap, with a Soundblaster Live as a soundcard. And guess what? There are plenty of great software programs on the internet that can be obtained for cheap, or free.

For those who are getting started from scratch, I recommend a free program called Tuareg (www.brambos.com). It's a very simple program that has everything you need to get started. It has drum samples, and even some melodic samples that you can sequence to make beats, basslines, and melodies. I recommend that you read the manual, as it gives you the basics on how the program works.

The way Tuareg works is by mixing sample loops with a simple interface. These loops can be sampled, or you can program them yourself. To program loops, you build up loops by arranging drum samples on a drumgrid. You can adjust how loud or soft each sound is in the grid. In Tuareg, you build a loop by making a new RaGE pattern.

Here are a couple of very basic beats to get you started. Adjust your tempo to the bpms I've listed. I've divided my grid into sixteen ticks, instead of Tuareg's 64 ticks, so make that adjustment. The light boxes mean make the sounds softer in that tick, the dark ones louder.

Hiphop (80-95 bpm)



House (110-138 bpm)



The key is to experiment. Try placing drum sounds on top of each other. Try using different snares or bassdrums and see how they make the drum loop sound. Play with the built in delays, and see what each setting does to your beats. Try making some drum hits louder and some softer - this will make your drum loop sound less robotic and more natural. Also, try layering beats - such as playing one of the built in loops softly under your beat and see what it does.

Once you get your basic loops done, try adding a bassline. The bassline can be really simple - for hiphop grooves, try adding notes where you placed the kick - try C and G for starters, and then experiment with adding other notes.

Once you have made a basic beat and a bassline, you can make a simple song by arranging your loops in Tuareg's pattern sequencer. There is a very useful tool that will make your beats much more interesting, called the Variator. The Variator will rearrange your beats so you can produce variations on your beats. These will help you to program variations on your original beat, which can keep things from being monotonous.

At this point, you are well on your way! I recommend that you get a beginner's book on music theory and learn the basics. You'll be glad you did. Teaching about musical keys and time signatures is sort of beyond my ability to explain in this article, but there are plenty of musical theory books that do it better than I ever could.

Another wonderful resource is the internet. Check out www.dancetech.com for a wealth of great tips and discussion forums on making dance music. There's lots more tutorials on there for beatmakers, and Kilo, the guy who runs the site, is really helpful, as are some of the other regulars. Stay tuned, next time, for more beat making tips.


so he probably had a lot of TR-808 samples
Click to expand...


WOW...no offense...but are you retarded? You said you read the article four years ago and the guy in the article said he started making beats four years ago...meaning he started around 97. KLC was puttin down tracks for No Limit way before that.

2nd, why would Grammy Award Winning Producers be using a 20$ audio interface, and free software programs?

Obviously The Title of the Article is just named Beats By The Pound, it has nothing to do with KLC or any other BBTP members.
 
hmm, if they have (and prolly do) a real 808, the actual "sound" you hear on tracks has been altered after compression and EQ they use.. to get the same sound, you would have to get in their lab and sample the shyt. or , get the same compressors+recording equipment they have.


just get real one. or The Machinedrum.
 
I took the original 808 and ran it through the SSL console and deminished all air in the kit and now its obsolete.
 
Gutta Muzick05 said:



WOW...no offense...but are you retarded? You said you read the article four years ago and the guy in the article said he started making beats four years ago...meaning he started around 97. KLC was puttin down tracks for No Limit way before that.

2nd, why would Grammy Award Winning Producers be using a 20$ audio interface, and free software programs?

Obviously The Title of the Article is just named Beats By The Pound, it has nothing to do with KLC or any other BBTP members.
Click to expand...

aiight playboy, i guess i didn't read into the article deep enough. I AM FROM NEW ORLEANS, and i should have payed attention to the four years of production under his belt, when i know that KLC was making beats on PARKWAY records. yes he was a dj, but ****, at the time i read the article i wasn't exposed to that software vs. hardware war. it was just like oh ****, i have a computer and i can make my own beats like Beats By The Pound cooooool. Now the you implicated no disrespect but you came at me wrong playboy, now i'm not an internet thug so i'll just be big about it and brush that dirt up off my shoulders.
 
..and now you can PM me with a you sendit link to and zipped up samplekit. thanks!



just kidding.. ;)
 
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Those Beats by the Pound guys used so many kinda weak keyboard sounds, but damn if they didn't make it work. As far as I know all those No Limit records back then were recorded on two linked Yamaha 02R's, so you cant attribute any of that sound to running their **** through a big name console. They probably had a ton of outboard and some decent engineers though.
 
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I can imagine they probably had tons of top-of-the-line processing equipment that goes waaaay beyond my pocket book. I do think I'll definitely be better off with a real 808 to use and sample from though.
 
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